EIU Media Relations

Spring Concert to Feature Country Music's Emerson Drive

The country music band, Emerson Drive, will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, April 21, in Lantz Arena as Eastern Illinois University's spring concert.

Fellow country music group Ryan Shupe and The Rubberband will open for Emerson Drive.

Tickets, priced at $18 ($14 for EIU students with university ID), may be purchased in advance via the University Union Ticket Office, open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. Visa/Mastercard are accepted. Purchases may be made in person or over the phone at (217) 581-5122.

Depending on availability, tickets can also be purchased the night of the performance at the door.

Emerson Drive emerged from Canada on to the Nashville country music scene in 2001 with its own brand of hip country. Having signed with DreamWorks Nashville -- and being true instrumentalists -- the group's members distinguished themselves by playing their own instruments on all of their records, becoming one of very few bands ever signed to a major record label to do so.

The band's first release, "Emerson Drive," garnered numerous industry awards and nominations, including ACM Top New Vocal Group/Duo (2003); Billboard's #1 Top Country Artist of the Year for 2002; R&R's #1 New Artist MVP for 2002; Group of the Year for two consecutive years from the Canadian Country Music Association; two Top 5 hits with "Fall Into Me" and "I Should Be Sleeping"; as well as a number one music video on CMT's Top Twenty Countdown with "Fall Into Me."

More recently, the band took home top honors at the 2005 CCMAs with coveted spots in the "2005 CCMA All Star Band." Dale Wallace, keyboards, and David Pichette, fiddle, were awarded the distinction of being best on their respective instruments.

Emerson Drive 's second release on DreamWorks, "What If," was released in June 2004.

Today, committed to their music and their genre, the band has set down roots in Nashville and purchased homes there. Members have also agreed to a new record deal on a new label, Midas Records.

Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband released their first album, "Dream Big," in 2005. Their popular single, also titled "Dream Big," debuted on the Billboard charts at No. 13, and continued on the singles chart for more than 24 weeks.